Maxxxmasher's Datsun pickup build!

[MAXXMASHER]

I had been contemplating another build for awhile now. Just can't leave these babies alone. I haven't even picked up another micro yet, but I found some goodies at a hobby shop that got me to thinking.....

I was in awe of all the scale stuf that this hobby shop had in stock, (Sluggers Hobby Shop in Mansfield, OH), and came across a model kit I always wanted. I was actually ready to leave with my goods in hand, and telling the owner about what I was gonna do with the Datsun model kit. He tells me he has in stock, a set of RC4WD micro beadlocks! I just couldn't resist in my buying frenzy!

That is about all I have pertaining to my build so far. This will most likely be a slower process than I usually like to have on a build, but I just might get a micro very soon. My other micros are too perfected for me to tear them apart, so I guess I'll add another to my fleet!

This hobby shop is awesome! Even an on site micro course! (Too bad this place is in my parents' home town and four hours from where I live!!)





Nice chain bridge! May have to incorporate this into my own course.



Even a place to get a snack!



They had some cool bigger stuff in there, too!



TONS of RC4WD scale goodness in stock. More than I have ever seen in a shop!



My total haul. I've got bigger projects eating into my play time as well.



The kit that will be my next micro scaler.



Micro bling! I think I'll get a set of Mickey Thompsons for these wheels. They're the only micro crawler tires I don't own.



The proposed setup. I may build the chassis from scratch. Haven't really gotten started. I do have a good MG micro servo ready for this build, too. One less thing to buy!





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[R.Billy Rob]

That looks like a killer hobby shop! I'd love to spend the afternoon there. I'm glad to see a new build going up, it's been a slow summer for builds around here.

[MAXXMASHER]

Just looking over my stuff now, trying to figure what I'll need for the build....

Definitely gonna have to make my on chassis for this. There is just too much stuff to cut away, I think to use the plastic one. This kit is pretty small; going to be a challenge!



Have had this servo lying about for awhile. Good torque and metal gears.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Well, my wallet is a bit lighter today! I fired up my Harley this morning before work and headed to my closest (1 1/2hr. Round trip) good hobby shop. I was hoping he'd have a micro Trekker and some other essentials in stock. That was not the case. :( No problem; it was a gorgeous day and I did come home with some needed supplies. I got the necessary brass square tube to make the frame rails and flat stock to make crossmembers. I also picked up threaded rod and aluminum sleeves to cover those. I figured I wouldn't mind another good ride later in the week, so I had my man Tom at Tailspin Hobbies order me a Trekker, some mini T ball ends, and some micro T shocks. (I find the stock shocks to be a bit long for these small bodies, so those usually work well for me.) I forgot to tell him to get me some micro Mickey Thompsons, so I'll get those on Fleabay. Can't wait to gut the new truck!!

This all I have.....for now.



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[MAXXMASHER]

I guess I jumped the gun a bit! The more I look at this Datsun truck, the more challenging it seems like it will be to turn into a micro scaler. Pretty small kit. I decided to look around on eBay a lil bit and found a kit that I wanted to do before at a good price. I think I'm gonna use a Baja Sonoma desert truck kit instead. Being that it's a 1:20 model, it will be a lot easier to work with and it comes with some cool accessories, too!




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[MAXXMASHER]

Oh yes, this will work much better! Sadly, my next day off isn't for five days... I should have my tires tomorrow.




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[alexchen86]

I always thought about using Novell kits or some static model kits just to gut the body and see how strong the stock plastic they use are....always thought it would be a sweet mini/micro build. Until I realized my hands are too freaking huge lol!

[R.Billy Rob]

Now that is more like it! I gotta say I love the 1:20 scale. It's the best fit for this scale. It should be a little easier too, there's more room inside!

[MAXXMASHER]

Yeah, I wish more kits were in 1:20 scale. Some 1:24s are ok, but just like RC's, one company's 1:24 is not the same as another. I do like that Datsun, but you don't really know what ya got until the box gets opened. I really wanted to do a Jeep CJ build before, but the model I got was way too small. I did see another guy do a build with one, but he had to hand craft all kinds of stuff to make it work; even a micro transfer case using watch gears because there wasn't enough room for tranny, axles, and driveshafts to fit any other way! Impressive, but more than I care to get into. These Lindberg kits are perfect. My first micro was an F-150 Lindberg build. I always end up tearing them apart after a year or so and building them with a different body. This micro monster was a Land Rover previously, and before that, it was a Toyota Hilux!



I also got a call from my Hobby shop yesterday. My Trekker kit is in along with the rest of my build goodies! Time for another Harley ride! Nothing but blue skies today, too!


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[MAXXMASHER]

Gonna be rough getting enough sleep before I have to be at work tonight, but that's OK! Nothing but sunshine and perfect temps for a leisurely ride to Tailspin hobby! Got all of my building goods, some new paint and primer, the Trail Trekker, and a new 2s lipo for the new build! I wanted to look around some more, but I had to dash out the door. Like I'll be able to fall right asleep with a pile of presents laying on my workbench. Yeah....

Lots to look at! Both Yetis, Ascenders, all the SCX-10 models, you name it! Tom even put in a new 1/24 slot track. Haven't played with those in years.



I'm big into Traxxas stuff, too. They usually have what I need.



Time to hit the road!



No better feeling than a sunny day on my Harley and a new RC strapped to it! (Well almost none! ;)



All my goods......wait for a night off!



The donor, ready to be torn apart.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Got the final pieces for my build in the mail today!



This combo looks sweet!





Won't run forever, but much better than the lil stocker packs.



It'll be nice to get back to a more traditional scaler. My other "micros" are pretty big.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Made a pretty good start tonight! Got off work shortly after 1am, and got right to work in my basement RC lab. I cracked a can of iced tea, put in some sports talk radio (Big Ben Maller on Fox is hilarious!), and decided to put my wheels and tires together. I opened up a few 20g shells and ditched the tire foams. Not sure of the exact weight, but about 1.5 shells' worth of pellets in each front and one shells' worth in each rear. These were some of the easiest wheels I ever built, and came out pretty nice!





I then threw the wheels on it, hooked up a lipo, and bound it to my DX4R pro Spektrum radio.



I ran it around for a little bit, noting that it isn't quite as good as the original micro crawler, but it is more stable from the longer wheelbase.

Enough play time! Time to get at it. I pretty much tore it all down till I got to axles and the tranny.



Then it was time to do a little modification to the model chassis. I want see if it can be used or if I do need to make one from scratch or if a hybrid of plastic chassis and brass square tube need to be constructed. I prefer to use the plastic model chassis if I can. Seems to make holding and positioning the body is easier for me that way. Regardless of that, the floor pan needed to come out. A #11 exacto blade would need to be used since it was now 3am, and my wife is sound asleep.



I got that accomplished, and added the body for a fitment check. It attatches to knobs just behind the bumper and the bed is simply glued to the frame.



Of course no build session would be complete without a minor setback. No damage to the parts involved, but I did manage to slice my thumb a little bit! Just barely, though. Thumbs up!!



Then I raised everything up to a decent ride height and threw the front axle under there. I placed the tranny about where it should sit, and placed the wheels where they should be. Yeah, the front is backwards. Just grabbed random ones.



I then snapped the body in its proper place. This is gonna be a good looking micro!



Next up is to do some link building. Not sure yet, but I may use the stock upper links. I'll get to that the night after next. Have to work over night tomorrow, then I'm off work for a night. Stay tuned!!


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[MAXXMASHER]

I made some decent progress during tonight's session. I'm pretty much keeping the front end of the truck the same as the Trekkers, at least as far as the length of the distance between the axle and tranny. I like the bend of the upper links, and there's not much wiggle room if I want to have the tranny inside the interior anyways. I made some custom links for the bottom and discovered that part of the frame was in the way of the front upper links. I solved this by removing that part of frame and making a taller section there with strips of brass. I connected two pieces to the plastic section (& each other) with tiny screws. Once I had everything where I wanted it to be, I gave the upper joints a shot of solder to shore things up a little better. I haven't worked the shocks into the equation yet, but I'm getting there. Might still have to position things a little different, but it looks OK for now. Also, my calculations were just a hair off. The hoops were just a little too tall, and prevented the hood from closing all the way. Less than the thickness of the Plastruct I used for the tranny side plates, so I used a small strip in the front to raise the body ever so slightly. Everything seems like it will be free enough for movement in the front end. All I need to do is play with the shocks to get the desired ride height. Once the front is buttoned up, the rear end will be a piece of cake! Set the rear axle, cut links and mount shocks. Then it will be time for partial disassembly, and paint. I probably will use Tamiya flat black and apply to the underside. Helps hide the screws and "custom" work. Still gotta figure a good placement for esc and construct a battery tray under the hood.

Links and tranny side plate spacers.



My crudely made hoops. Probably wll round the bottom of the hoops where the two pieces connect at the top for better link clearance.



A wider shot.



Frame fairly secure, I cut away the plastic that was in the way of the links.



Also visible is the strip to raise the body.



Perfect fit after some dremel work to the top of the hoops.




Looking like a truck. (Sort of)



Did a little tweaking, and got the ride height close.



Snug fit!


Lots of stuff do do yet, all tucked in for now




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[MAXXMASHER]

Using the plastic chassis just wasn't working for me. Too flimsy, and I just didn't like how it looked. I decided to go back to my original plan and build a frame from scratch using brass suare tube. I had never before tried to solder the brass pieces together before, either, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I got all the spots on the frame and the ends of the cross members tinned up. When it tried to heat them up, my iron seemed like it wouldn't get quite hot enough to melt everything together. My solution to this was to break out my butane torch and heat the joints. Worked pretty well! Some of my crossmembers were just a little crooked, but the frame is even and pretty straight. Once I get everything finalized, the joints will get a sanding and then painted flat black. Still trying to get my front upper links bent just right to allow for proper flex.

My bench is turning into a disaster area!



Came out pretty nice!



That last crossmember is pretty crooked, but no one will see it, plus it won't affect anything.








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[R.Billy Rob]

Looks good for a first try! That model kit frame is a hard one to work with.

[MikeChino]

Love to see brass work, looks good

[MAXXMASHER]

Got some more done last night. Doesn't seem like a lot, but I am pleased. The steering is set, and the shocks are mounted, with the links in the front being finalized, too. Lots going on in a tiny space! I also got the tranny solidly mounted between the frame rails and trimmed the frame ends. I had to solder some pieces of square tube to the frame and drilled & tapped them to use as upper shock mounts. Truck is looking good!
















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[MAXXMASHER]

Just got done for the night working on the micro. She's a roller! Just gotta get the rear driveshaft hooked up. I forgot to look at my stockpile of parts before getting everything for this build, but I have plenty of shaft pieces, aluminum tube, old pens, and Plastruct tubes to figure something out.

Tonight, I made all the links for the rear, attached the rear axle, and fabbed up some upper shock mounts from some brass strips. I just made two corner pieces, tapped them to accept the shocks, and soldered them to a crossmember. Once I got the soldering part mastered, it's pretty easy, really. Much better than my old way of drilling micro holes and coming up with enough screws & nuts to hold it all together.

Everything seems to move around pretty well with little binding. Just have to turn the ball ends one rotation or so to really get the rear tires centered up. Just paint and electronics to go!

My first try at the rear shock mounts. They were too low. Maybe for a micro mudder they'd be OK, but the was way to high! I just flipped them to the top of the crossmember. That caused them to hit the underside of the bed, so I had to cut a slot for them. I have a solution to fix that too.








Found a fuel cell from an old build. Already painted up!



I think the tranny sits low enough that I should be able to squeeze the interior in there.



Flex shot! Had to....





Starting to look like something!



Love these wheels and tires!



The underbelly of the beast.



Two more nights of work, the two days off. Should have this baby climbing soon!


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[MAXXMASHER]

Had a little time this afternoon to sneak down to the basement to do a little more wrenching on the micro. I got the rear driveshaft built using an extra female shaft extended with an old piece of carbon arrow shaft. A little model glue, and it's perfect. Then I figured this nice calm sunny day would be a good time to do a little painting. I made sure all the excess was trimmed away, cleaned the pieces with denatured alcohol, hit with primer, and finally a few coats of light blue. Should look great!

Nice and sturdy.



Primed up



Color looks off because these were shot in my basement with seven overhead tube lights. Everything comes out looking lighter.






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[MAXXMASHER]

Made a ton of progress tonight! Got some small details worked out and also did a bunch of brush painting.

I trimmed down the tranny housing and dropped the upper links down a little more to save more room for the interior. I also bent some new upper front links. Everything up front moves a lot more freely.



Showing the underside of the truck. Got the frame all painted up.



I also got my mounting method all sorted out. Velcro glued across the rear cross member will hold the body pretty well.



The front of the body will be secured with earth magnets glued to the plastic. They will adhere to a steel strip I soldered to the front crossmember.





The kit came with fender flares which I painted black.



Everything is coming together nicely. The body color looks a little more true here.



Not to bad so far.



Another mandatory flex shot!



Still need to turn those rod ends a little more so the wheels line up with the body in the rear.


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